Evidence for C. pneumoniae organism detection in abdominal aortic aneurysms of patients, some of whom also had obstructive lung disease, accompanied by a review of epidemiological studies associating asthma and chronic bronchitis with atherosclerosis.

To my knowledge this is the first publication to suggest the hypothesis that chronic C. pneumoniae lung infection may be a risk factor for vascular diseases such as heart attacks, and aortic aneurysms. See also Reference #26 for more data supporting this hypothesis.